May 14, 2004, Newsletter Issue #94: Keeping Kitty Off the Kitchen Counter

Tip of the Week

In all of my years with cats, ONLY the cats who regarded the counter tops as ´uninteresting´ would stay off of them. If you react when the cat jumps on the counter, they will learn to do that to get your attention.

It´s best to make them realize there is nothing up there they want to see. When you are preparing food, or cooking in the kitchen, allow you new cat to see what you are doing. Either place a chair nearby so their eyes are at counter top level, or just lift the cat up to see there is nothing they are interested in.

If you are cooking something they like, throw tiny tidbits or kitty treats on the chair for them. This will teach them to stay on the chair to get what they want, and it will keep them out from under your feet.

However, there are those cats who are willful and must be trained to not jump on the counters. For those cats, you can use one of those motion activated holiday decorations that make a noise and move around. We had a Jack-O-Lantern that would jump around and moan and groan with flashing eyes. That would startle Kitty into not wanting to go up there. Your goal is to associate jumping on the counter with something unpleasant, so add the Spray Bottle technique to this.

DON´T YELL AT KITTY OR SPANK HIM; that will only cause other more serious behavior problems.

When training a cat, you must remember that they are very curious. By short stepping that curiosity, you can easily train your pet to stay off the counters.

Until next week,
Gloria, cat.lifetips Guru
www.catfurnitureandmore.biz

About LifeTips

Now one of the top on-line publishers in the world, LifeTips offers tips to millions of monthly visitors. Our mission mission is to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Expert writers earn dough for what they know. And exclusive sponsors in each niche topic help us make-it-all happen.